Jackdaw boss warns of winter fuel shortage risk if North Sea gas field not approved | BBC News — Transcript

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1. 0:01Way out in the North Sea, Jackdaw is
2. 0:03almost ready to go. The operator of
3. 0:06Jackdaw says it could be producing gas
4. 0:07by the 1st of October, churning out 6%
5. 0:11of UK supply. There's just one hitch,
6. 0:14and it's a big one. The field does not
7. 0:16have permission to begin production. The
8. 0:18boss wants the UK government to change
9. 0:20that urgently.
10. 0:22>> People talk about shovel-ready projects.
11. 0:24We're ready to cut the ribbon on this on
12. 0:26this project, and that's different. So,
13. 0:28there's not too much in the queue behind
14. 0:30that we could turn on quickly if we
15. 0:32have, for whatever reason, a gas supply
16. 0:35emergency. So, if I was the Secretary of
17. 0:37State for energy security and net zero,
18. 0:40I'd be looking closely at where's my
19. 0:43next source of
20. 0:45energy security, and you're standing on
21. 0:46it.
22. 0:47>> The reason gas is not yet flowing
23. 0:49through these pipes is because a court
24. 0:51ruled that the UK government approved
25. 0:53Jackdaw unlawfully. They now have to
26. 0:55reconsider that decision, taking into
27. 0:57account the project's full contribution
28. 1:00to climate change.
29. 1:01>> It's a calm day here in the North Sea,
30. 1:04but Jackdaw is right in the middle of a
31. 1:06stormy debate about how to power the
32. 1:09nation. That's a question with some big
33. 1:11implications for jobs here in the
34. 1:13offshore industry, for the UK's energy
35. 1:16security, and for the environment.
36. 1:19>> And with yet another heatwave hitting
37. 1:21the UK, climate campaigners say enough
38. 1:24is enough.
39. 1:25>> I think it would be a huge betrayal of
40. 1:27the British public for the UK government
41. 1:29to approve new oil and gas fields at a
42. 1:31time when ordinary people are suffering
43. 1:33so much as a result of these
44. 1:34record-breaking heatwaves, and that it's
45. 1:37very clear from the science that there
46. 1:39is no room for new fossil fuel
47. 1:40development. So, it is a test, I think,
48. 1:42of the UK government's commitment to
49. 1:44tackling this crisis.
50. 1:46>> For some North Sea workers, this is
51. 1:48make-or-break time. Jobs are being lost
52. 1:51in oil and gas faster than they're being
53. 1:53created in wind, wave, and solar power.
54. 1:57Several Jackdaw staff told they are
55. 1:58worried about the future of the
56. 2:00industry.
57. 2:01But up on deck, they're trying to tune
58. 2:03out the politics as they enter the final
59. 2:05stretch before production can begin
60. 2:08if it ever does. James Cook, BBC News,
61. 2:11Jackdaw.